Kingston, Jamaica (AP)-the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that the Foreign Ministry would re-rate its travel warnings for Jamaica and other countries to ensure that they reflect the real conditions on site.
As part of a tour of the Caribbean, Rubio heard complaints from Jamaican officials about the warning for her country, which depends heavily on tourism. The current travel warning for Jamaica advises the Americans to visit the country due to high crime rates.
While Rubio agreed to defend the rejection of the Trump government against a Cuban government program that sends doctors and other medical workers to countries who need such a staff, including Jamaica.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holess said that his nation had greatly benefited from the program that the Trump government’s claims violated international work standards and in some cases corresponds to human trafficking.
Rubios trip leads him from Jamaica to Guyana and Suriname, as the government increasingly draws its attention to the western hemisphere. Rubio also focuses on changing the Caribbean countries on their dependence on Venezuelan oil and fighting illegal immigration.
President Donald Trump recently announced up-to-date sanctions against Venezuelan oil exports. The Republican President threatened to force tariffs to be imported to goods that were imported into the USA from other countries that buy oil from Venezuela.
At the Jamaica travel warning, Rubio did not promise that this would be relieved, but said that revisions were possible in view of the progress that the Jamaican government made to reduce crimes.
“We have committed (that) we go back and re -rate the travel counseling, since they are currently making sure that they reflect the reality of the new numbers and the numbers,” said Rubio, stating that Jamaica “made very impressive progress in general figures in the total numbers when it comes to the murder rate and so on”.
Holess said he appreciated Rubios promise. “We endeavor to work together to ensure that travel counseling reflects the current realities and promote the journey to Jamaica,” he said. “I am confident that the dialogue initiated today will lead to tangible results.”
The Cuban doctor’s program also emphasized the Holess and said Jamaica made sure that the doctors and nurses sent by Havana were protected by Jamaican labor laws.
“Let us make it clear that the Cuban doctors in Jamaica were incredibly helpful for us,” he said, adding that Jamaica has a lack of healthcare workers because many have emigrated to other countries.
“We make sure that they are treated within our labor laws and that like any other worker,” said Holess. “Any characterization of the program by others would certainly not be applicable to Jamaica. We ensure that our program corresponds to all international laws and standards to which we are party.”
American officials said the programs are similar to organized human trafficking because the doctors are not paid directly. The Latin American leaders have denounced the position of the United States and claimed that all sanctions imposed on participation would withdraw the urgently needed medical facilitate.
Before Rubio’s trip, Trump’s special Latin American envoy Maurico Claver-Caron suggested that the secretary if the secretary concentrated on the program on his trip were a waste of time. However, Rubio seemed to recognize that at least some participants, including Jamaica, could comply with international standards.
“You basically work as forced labor in many places,” said Rubio. “Now there are places that have better work standards. Maybe Jamaica is one of them. And that’s okay.”
“Every country operates the program differently, and due to our relationship with Jamaica we will obviously deal with them and continue to talk about it and have a better understanding,” he said. “Perhaps none of this applies in the way it is treated here.”
Another main problem for Rubio is the situation in Haiti, in which multinational peacekeeping has been available for months and struggling to prevent gangs from taking over the country. Rubio spoke to the President of Kenya on Tuesday, who leads this force, although the report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the call made no indication of Haiti.
Rubio has expanded the exception to a total of non -US AID freezing to further finance the security forces in Haiti, but it remains unclear how long they will take.
